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Erling Haaland, Gio Reyna, Marcus Thuram and their famous parents talk about the lineage, heritage and weight of dresses with a call on the back of their T-shirt.
By Rory Smith
DORTMUND, Germany – Claudio Reyna cannot put an exact date, however, it must have been in the last six months or so when his identity, without him knowing it, began to change.
He is no longer Claudio Reyna, a longtime American international, a 15-year career veteran in some of Europe’s most important leagues, and director of Major League Soccer Austin F.C. “Now, when they bring me closer to people, especially children,” Reyna said, “he’s like Gio Reyna’s father.”
Reyna isn’t the only one who has to make this transformation. Football has worked in families to some extent: Paolo Maldini, Frank Lampard and Jordi Cruyff came here from stellar lineages, but now there is a new organization of family names on the back of the shirts across Europe.
Erling Haaland, son of Alfie, the Norwegian international, plays with Reyna at Borussia Dortmund. Marcus Thuram, whose father, Lilian, won the World Cup with France in 1998, has one of the Most Brilliant Bundesliga talents at Borussia Monchengladbach.
There is a Chiesa in Fiorentina, a Hagi playing for Romania and a Weah and a Drogba arriving in France. There’s even Maldini, a third generation, now dressed in the remarkable red and black stripes of A.C.Milan.
This is a time that raises a series of family questions. Does a remarkable call weigh heavily on a young man’s shoulders? Are the whispered accusations of nepotism – which are nothing more than “the son of,” as Lilian Thuram says – an inspiration to young people seeking to convert themselves?
And when your son hits the big time, how does that transition feel, to see your renown eclipsed by that of your child? In interviews with both generations of the Reyna, Haaland and Thuram families, it is clear — in their own words, edited and condensed below for clarity — that becoming the father of a top player, rather than being the son of one, is considerably easier.
“He has a platform to motivate children,” Claudio Reyna said, knowing that his son’s new prestige had reduced his. “And that’s great, as a father.”
As a child, have a positive and negative noticed flyover. There were probably other people who think my call will give me a chance. For me, it’s just a motivation.
I have shown that I am intelligent with myself: on the team in my hometown, Bryne; in Molde, when I started doing well there; Red Bull Salzburg; and now in Dortmund. I’ve proved it many times.
Maybe now we’ve gone beyond the point where other people can say I have my chance because of who my father is. It’s been in almost every single moment for me: it’s kind of lucky charm.
Becoming a player has been natural. It was my dream, as is the case for almost all young people, but it was at 15 or 16 when I felt I could be just a professional. We talked about it a lot. It’s great to have a playing father, because he knows the game, he knows what it’s like to be a player. This has been my choice, but it has helped me locate the right places.
From the moment I started, the purpose has been to be bigger than him. I’m fine, but there’s still a long way to go. I didn’t get over it. He’s had a bad career. I’m proud of him. Is he now just Erling Haaland’s father? No, I’d say no. They gave him a big call to that, you know.
That’s very nice of him to say, but I am definitely becoming known for being the father of Erling Haaland. He is not the son of Alfie Haaland anymore. At the start, it was the other way around, but that’s a good thing. I hope he can become a lot better than me.
I took a step back in his youth: I wasn’t directly concerned about his daily education or anything like that. I’m sure there was no tension on my part. But he was competing with his brothers and sisters, or with me, and in retrospect, he built that will to do everything he could to win.
I don’t know where that comes from. You may want a gene to go hungry every day to do the best it can. I’ve met a lot of talented players, but they didn’t want to sacrifice each and every one of your desires to be a very smart player. Maybe I gave an example, I don’t know. But there are many sacrifices to make, especially in his teens and twenty years, and he has been aware of that.
I had some features for my first professional contract. New York City F.C. wanted to point at me. Like Manchester City. But once an offer came from Borussia Dortmund, I couldn’t say no. Everything in the club, the opportunities offered to young players. And it’s a chance to escape, to create my own way, to do my own thing.
I think my father understood that, from my point of view, the connection was a little stressful. There were times when I came here with the national team and it was difficult to get the name. I was smart at thirteen and 14, but it wasn’t until a little later that I really took off. I wasn’t the most productive player on the team and other people think I might get away with it. Maybe infrequently it was true.
He gave me a recommendation when I knew I could turn pro, but the most common thing is that he put me there and let me make a decision where I wanted to go. He looked for what I was looking for. It’s the real thing to insistence, really: when I was little, she never told me to pass out and exercise five times a day. What propelled me was my competitive sequence, my preference for being greater than the others.
It was rarely a bit me: I was aiming for what I needed to improve. He often didn’t tell me if he’d had a smart game. But he knew what he needed to improve to get to the highest level.
I knew that when you were 17 or 18, you didn’t communicate much in the locker room. Enter a men’s locker room. If you don’t respect that, older people will have their door. You will need to understand that you are at the top of your career. It’s not just a step and you’re there.
But now, because it’s very open, the stories you tell me about the costume scenes remind me to be there: all the fun, the jokes and the jokes. You see him developing on the team, that feeling of being accepted, of locating his path.
You want the same values and criteria that when I arrived, be a smart companion, be nice in the locker room, but for Gio and his generation, players like Erling and Jadon Sancho, the external points are different, all because of the attention. and things that throw at you from a very young age.
He laughs at the stupid and unrealistic things about being the next superstar. Its purpose is simple: day by day, year after year, build a smart career. He knows he’s going through tough times and tough times, which is inevitable. But he knows he’s going to have to move on and he’ll have to deal with them. I’m proud of how much you get it.
It was not always easy for me when my dad came to watch me play. There is one game I remember. The coach had asked me to do one thing on the field, but my dad, standing on the touchline, was telling me to do something else. It was an impossible situation: my coach saying one thing, and Lilian Thuram another.
I listened to the coach, but after the game, my father asked the coach why he asked me to play that way. So you had this young amateur coach explaining to a World Cup winner his concepts about the game. After a while, my father started laughing at the situation. I think when I was younger, some of my apprentices didn’t like my dad.
It wasn’t until I was 11 that it allowed me to start playing football for a club, and even then it’s not a youth academy for a professional team. He encouraged me to approve swimming, judo, everything, but football had to wait.
He seeks to protect me; I knew that when someone’s son comes to a team, there may be jealousy. Players must offend you. Parents don’t communicate much about you. Sometimes, I may not realize how other people might think like this: Do you think the doorman let me dial because he loves my dad? I tried to get other people out the wrong way.
Actually, I’m not competing: it was the first Thuram, and being first of all is stronger. All I can do is try to be the most productive Marcus Thuram.
I’m the game you’re communicating about. Coach replaced the wing Marcus was playing so I couldn’t reach him!
For a father, the thrill is to see their children do what they’ve sought to do. As a former playr, you also know exactly what he had to do to get there. He was a satisfied, smiling child, like the sun even in winter, but he knew he had to paint to achieve his dreams.
We’ve talked a lot about where it’s coming from. People who live in a comfortable setting don’t have that hunger. They don’t want to grow up. They are not in a position to do the things you want to develop. It doesn’t depend on your background or background— it depends on what you’re willing to do. It’s in you. It has nothing to do with your family.
At all times he has seen football as a dream and in fact it is vital that he does not. All young people need to be players and very few can do it. It’s anything I tried to convey to him: when he played opposite Neymar in France, or now that he’s in Germany, opposite other people he saw in the 2014 World Cup final. It is vital that you realize your good luck, but you will never have to know that this is your dream. Fortunately, he didn’t lose that.
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